You Can Raise Funds For Guide Dogs Australia by Walking Your Furry Friend This August

Easily taking out the title for the cutest and fluffiest fundraising initiative of the year, Pawgust is doing the real good work — raising money for Guide Dogs, while letting you spend some quality time with your best four-legged pal.

It costs more than $50,000 to raise and train a Guide or Assistance Dog, and these pups are dearly needed by those they assist. There are over 450,000 Australians who are blind or have low vision, and to them, Guide Dogs are often a constant companion providing a vital service.

Pawgust is a simple premise, but a sweet one: just walk your dog. Spend 30 minutes every day walking your doggo, for 30 days, or the whole month of August. Registering for Pawgust means you'll get sent a pedometer to use to measure your steps and how far you travel with your furry mate all up – half an hour is approximately 2km, so seems likely you'll make some decent tracks.

The other side of the challenge is a little less dog-friendly: raising funds. Reach out to the people in your life who like dogs (or just like you) and get them digging into their pockets – if you're stuck for ideas, the pack you receive upon registering has some ideas and plans for how to reach out.

If you're reading this dogless, that's okay too: you can just walk alone, or enlist a human two-legged friend to do it with you. There are even prizes up for grabs for those who raise the most funds or walk the greatest distance, but let's face it — achieving something pretty cool with the help of your dog is probably its own reward.